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Un bonheur si fragile #3
Les épreuves
Quinze années se sont écoulées et Corinne, maintenant mère de cinq enfants, n'a guère vu sa situation s'améliorer. Entre un fils fugueur, un mari infidèle, ivrogne et parfois violent, et le rêve qu'elle caresse de voir sa fille aînée devenir institutrice, les épreuves se succèdent pour la femme de trente-cinq ans. En cette année 1918, la grippe espagnole sème la panique dans le village de Saint-Paul-les-Prés. De son côté, Gonzague Boisvert, maintenant un vieillard, vend son hôtel pour la plus grande joie du curé Bilodeau, toujours aussi bourru, et achète deux camions. Quand Laurent entreprend de travailler pour lui, à la voierie, Corinne hérite alors, bien malgré elle, de toutes les tâches qu'exige l'exploitation de la ferme familiale.
514 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 13, 2017
Bonjour les lecteurs
La saga québecoise continue avec ce 3°tome.
Nous retrouvons Corinne 15 ans plus tard. Nous sommes en 1918.
Elle est maintenant maman de 5 enfants avec des caractères bien différents.
La vie continue avec ses joies et ses difficultés pour cette " mère courage".
Ce troisième tome m'a beaucoup moins emballée que les deux précédents.
Même si l'écriture de Michel David reste très agréable à lire, j'ai trouvé ce livre assez monotone.
Beaucoup de répétitions, nous suivons Corinne au jour le jour et peu de choses se passent. Entre son travail à la ferme, l'éducation de ses enfants ( qu'elle assure seule ), son mari ivrogne, violent et peu présent, ses nombreux passages à l'église et ses dévotions...pas grand chose ne bouge.
Il est vrai qu'il n'est pas facile d'assurer une saga de plus de 2000 pages ! ( un tome en trop ? ).
Cette épopée reste néanmoins un bon moment de lecture.
J'espère que le dernier tome sera un peu plus passionnant et que Corinne trouvera ENFIN le bonheur .
La saga québecoise continue avec ce 3°tome.
Nous retrouvons Corinne 15 ans plus tard. Nous sommes en 1918.
Elle est maintenant maman de 5 enfants avec des caractères bien différents.
La vie continue avec ses joies et ses difficultés pour cette " mère courage".
Ce troisième tome m'a beaucoup moins emballée que les deux précédents.
Même si l'écriture de Michel David reste très agréable à lire, j'ai trouvé ce livre assez monotone.
Beaucoup de répétitions, nous suivons Corinne au jour le jour et peu de choses se passent. Entre son travail à la ferme, l'éducation de ses enfants ( qu'elle assure seule ), son mari ivrogne, violent et peu présent, ses nombreux passages à l'église et ses dévotions...pas grand chose ne bouge.
Il est vrai qu'il n'est pas facile d'assurer une saga de plus de 2000 pages ! ( un tome en trop ? ).
Cette épopée reste néanmoins un bon moment de lecture.
J'espère que le dernier tome sera un peu plus passionnant et que Corinne trouvera ENFIN le bonheur .
April 6, 2021
Super
November 4, 2025
3,5 ⭐️.
November 4, 2013
I think out of the 4 books so far, this one is by far the most depressing. Set 15 years later after the events of the second book, the reader finds Corinne with 5 children and trapped in a marriage to her asshole of a husband. She still struggles to maintain her farm and provide a life for her children despite her numerous struggles.
The reader also gets a glimps of the personalities of her children:
Philippe, her eldest, has the same callous and inconsiderate attitude as his father.
Madeleine, resembles her mother physically and to an extent emotionally although if we compare Madeleine and Corrine( when she was that age in the first novel), Madeleine is definitely more mature and responsible than a young Corrine was.
Norbert, is the comical relief of the family. Although, I found that he is more reprimanded for his sense of humour than encouraged, this does not seem to deter him in the least.
Elise and Lionel (the two youngest) are present in the background but as with young children who are much younger than their older siblings, they are treated as more of an accessory and often ignored.
I would say this novel is very coming of age. While I understood why Corinne remains loyal to her husband despite his obvious disregard and abusive treatment towards her mainly because she would not dare oppose the clergy at the time. A major event takes place within the Boisvert family that will question her loyalty and love towards Laurent (her husband) even though he has never done anything to earn it.
Despite the depressive nature of this novel, it was by far my favorite not for the characters but for the historical context. Michel David managed to capture the impact that WWI had on the rural community and Quebec as a whole. Today, we know exactly what happened. David allows the reader to understand that with the lack of technology, rural communities did not understand the seriousness of this war. You also begin to realize that the governement hid a lot of facts from the population.
The other historical event that was exciting to read was the devastation of the Spanish Flu. As a reader, one begins to realize how rapid and sudden this epidemic fell on the population. The number of dead and the fear during that time were beautifully written and made me think: with all our technology available in modern times, if such an epidemic occured, would we be able to stop the devastation in time, given it's rapid nature?
The reader also gets a glimps of the personalities of her children:
Philippe, her eldest, has the same callous and inconsiderate attitude as his father.
Madeleine, resembles her mother physically and to an extent emotionally although if we compare Madeleine and Corrine( when she was that age in the first novel), Madeleine is definitely more mature and responsible than a young Corrine was.
Norbert, is the comical relief of the family. Although, I found that he is more reprimanded for his sense of humour than encouraged, this does not seem to deter him in the least.
Elise and Lionel (the two youngest) are present in the background but as with young children who are much younger than their older siblings, they are treated as more of an accessory and often ignored.
I would say this novel is very coming of age. While I understood why Corinne remains loyal to her husband despite his obvious disregard and abusive treatment towards her mainly because she would not dare oppose the clergy at the time. A major event takes place within the Boisvert family that will question her loyalty and love towards Laurent (her husband) even though he has never done anything to earn it.
Despite the depressive nature of this novel, it was by far my favorite not for the characters but for the historical context. Michel David managed to capture the impact that WWI had on the rural community and Quebec as a whole. Today, we know exactly what happened. David allows the reader to understand that with the lack of technology, rural communities did not understand the seriousness of this war. You also begin to realize that the governement hid a lot of facts from the population.
The other historical event that was exciting to read was the devastation of the Spanish Flu. As a reader, one begins to realize how rapid and sudden this epidemic fell on the population. The number of dead and the fear during that time were beautifully written and made me think: with all our technology available in modern times, if such an epidemic occured, would we be able to stop the devastation in time, given it's rapid nature?
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August 3, 2011Encore très bon. J'ai hâte de lire le dernier tome!
July 27, 2012
Lovely.. can't wait to start part 4
January 17, 2015
ah j'adore la fin malgré tout... hâte de commencer le prochain!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews